Prescriptions for pharmaceuticals are now commonly and increasingly being placed via mail-order and over the internet. In order to meet high volume prescription demand in a timely manner, the process of filling prescriptions has been highly automated, especially at large mass production prescription fill facilities.
Generally speaking, prescription orders are now processed by computer. The computer generates a prescription label to be placed on a pill bottle. Pills that match the prescription are then automatically dispensed into the pill bottle.
In one arrangement, an automated prescription fulfillment system is a conveyor belt system that includes dispensing bins each containing large quantities of pills of a given type. A label station, under computer control, generates and adheres the prescription label to a pill bottle. The prescription label generally includes at least a pill identifier and a pill quantity. A conveyor belt or other transport mechanism transports the labeled pill bottle past dispensing mechanisms of pill dispensing bins that contain pills of varying types. The dispensing mechanism of the pill dispensing bin that contains pills that match the pill identifier on the prescription label automatically dispenses pills from its pill dispensing bin into the pill bottle. By design, the quantity of pills dispensed should match the pill quantity on the prescription label.
Because of the potential danger that taking unprescribed pharmaceuticals poses to the public, quality control of the filled prescriptions is of utmost concern. Accordingly, although automation often improves the output quality of a product due to the removal of human error, there still exists the possibility of prescription inaccuracy. For example, due to malfunctioning pill dispensing mechanisms, an incorrect quantity of pills may be dispensed into the pill bottle. For other reasons, for example due to computerized label reading problems, label printing problems, or human error, the dispensing bin may contain the incorrect pills or the wrong dispensing mechanism may be triggered to dispense pills, resulting in the incorrect pills in the pill bottle.
A need therefore exists for a post-fill quality control technique that verifies the accuracy of a filled prescription after the pills have been dispensed into the pill bottle. Verification of filled prescriptions by human inspection is costly and time-consuming. However, even in the automated environment, verification of each individual pill as it is dispensed into the pill bottle is costly in terms of complicated hardware and software, and time-consuming, preventing the verification of large numbers of prescriptions as required by high volume pharmaceutical mail/internet orders. Accordingly, a need also exists for an automatic post-fill quality control analysis to be performed after the entire quantity of pills have been dispensed into the pill bottle which verifies the accuracy of the filled prescription.